Neatoramanaut Ivan C. emailed us a photo he found in a photo album several years ago, and thought that it looked like young Abraham Lincoln:
The photo has brought a heated debate for over 5 years now over this photo. I brought a photo album 7 years ago and inside were many photos of well known people. One photo caught my eye. It was a photo on a piece of heavy metal, 2"x3". mirror image. I said to my self this guy looks like Abe Lincoln. The photo had many
other pictures of Abe Lincoln and also of his wife and kids.Well I started my research into why the photo is not Abe Lincoln. I learned all I could about abe lincoln especially of him being hit in the face by a horse at age nine. I had the photo authenticated. One person who saw the photo in person was Abe Lincoln expert from Denville, New Jersey Dr. Jerome R. Corsi. Also Dave Blanchette and Drs. Thomas Schwartz and James Cornelius. They all agreed and said it was a very young Abe, age 27 to 29.years old. I also had a forensic detective look at it. Mr. Bob Garrett CSCSA, CLPE, FFS New Jersey State Division International Association for Identification. He said all facial characteristics match.
If you see the photo in person you see that Mr. Lincoln was very tall and homely and you can see his mole, crooked lip and disfigured jaw. One eye was smaller and one ear was higher than the other. Abe is wearing his WHIG button and his suit and cravat is of the victoria age.
If you want to see the photo in person I live in New Jersey.
I'm no photo expert, but a cursory play with various images of Lincoln I found online showed a remarkable match in the eyes, nose, and mouth positionings. Could Ivan have found daguerrotypes of young Abraham Lincoln? What do you think?
The photos:Thanks Ivan!
Since Lincoln was born in 1809, he would have been 30 in 1839. Consequently, it is just barely possible that your photo could be of Abraham Lincoln although he would have to have been at least 30 when your photo was taken. An age of 30 is not all that different than your Lincoln experts' estimate of 27 to 29 so it is possible that your photo is of Lincoln.
Photography was really just getting started in 1839 and the technology was changing quite rapidly. Consequently, an expert in early photographic technology might be able to provide a reasonably accurate date range for when your photo was probably taken.
The null hypothesis in action.
I would also question the use of the scenery, also not common for its time.
As far as the match between eyes, ears, mouth, etc., I'd like to see evidence performed by overlaying the two images. The photo and the middle Lincoln look like good candidates for an attempted matchup.
As for the lips someone pointed out, lips tend to get thinner with age, so pointing out how the upper lip is plumper doesn't disprove anything.
Also, there is a comprehensive book that contains every known photograph ever taken of Lincoln, "Lincoln in Photographs: An Album of Every Known Pose", by Charles Hamilton and Lloyd Ostendorf. The oldest photograph ever taken of Lincoln was a daguerreotype, which currently resides at the Library of Congress. It can be seen online via the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/
For another source, there is this one guy who used to come in all the time and was obsessed with Lincoln photos. He also has a website: http://www.lincolnimages.com/
1. He's wearing clothes of a style that didn't even exist until well after 1839.
2. The description sounds more like a tintype than a daguerreotype, which backs up point number one.
3. The piece of furniture he's leaning on is in a style popular close to the turn of the 20th century, but which wouldn't have been used in 1839.
4. He appears to be wearing a pinback button on his lapel. They didn't exist until well after Lincoln's death.
If you want to authenticate a photograph, the first thing to do is take it to someone who knows about old photographs, not someone who claims to compare facial features. Ought to do that with this one. It'd give any historian of photography a good laugh.
to see him as a young man and know that he is just like us is incredible. Hats off to the person who discovered the photo. All those people who say it is not him are just jealous and narrow minded.
As mentioned before, the clothes are wrong.
You can tell simply by the clothes. The tie, the waistcoat, the jacket. . . all of those items are no older the 1880's.
@S. Miller- I immediately thought of History Detectives too. Love that show!
daugerrotype.In my opinion I think it is a very young Abe Lincoln.
And if you look at the photo closer you see his jacket reaches well below his waist and his vest has 5 buttons not like the modern ones. come on people thats my hero Abe. You can't see the trees for the forrest.
I'll eat my shorts!
Hard to believe that a picture of President Abe Lincoln at such a young age discovered what? 170 years later is remarkable.I think the whole world should see the picture! Hats off to you Ivan for such a discovery.
I hope all turns out well for you. I know there are many people who like the song says "rather see you die than see you fly".
don't you think the government would have photographers way before anyone?
young Abe Lincoln!!! My favorite President!
Thank you Neatorama.
Long Live President Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln also does not appear to be old enough for the earliest possible date of the photo, especially if you take into consideration his health problems. If this is a photo Abraham Lincoln in his early or mid 20's, this would also be the oldest portrait in known existence.
I would do anything to own the photo,probably the only one in existence. let me know if it is for sale!
love you Abe, you will always be my favorite president!
All men, except for laborers, wore three-piece suits every day. No man would consider himself dressed unless he was wearing trousers, a waistcoat over his shirt and a coat. Of course, he also required a tie
and a hat. The cuts of coats changed over the decades, as did the width of trousers, but the basics were always the same. By the end of the century, cuts were such that a modern man can look at them and
recognize his own suits.
Victoria, I'd love to see any photos from the 1700's. All the data I can find says photography was invented/developed in the 1820's.
This image is 1) A Ferrotype (or "tintype"). Process not patented until 1853, and 1856 in the US. By the time this image could have technologically been taken, there are already existing photos of a more mature Lincoln.
2) The clothing dates from the late 19th century. Fashion does not, and never did remain in a bubble, and a no one goes around sporting 50 year into the future fashions.
Any appraiser or historian who specializes in photography or fashion would instantly know that this image could not conceivably be from earlier than the 1870s at EARLIEST.
Even if we stretch credibility and say that the subject of the photo is 30 years old, the photographic technology simply did not exist in 1839 to take a picture of this quality.
On this basis the physical similarities are irrelevant.
End of story.
Abe is wearing a suit in all his photos. I wonder what people would say if he was wearing jeans and a tee shirt.
No one can have a twin with the same deformaties.
if it is not Abraham Lincoln, who is he your greatgrandfather?
Why not! Stranger things have happened! You ROCK Mr. Lincoln!! 4-ever!!
Why isn't this photo on newspapers all around the world? Mr. Lincoln is an American Icon. An American Hero.
Doesn't it look just like Andy Samburg from the current cast of SNL? Freaky!
"James and my views on this image are being misrepresented by the owner. Both of us have stated to the owner that the image, in our opinion, is NOT Abraham Lincoln. I have received more than one email from other experts being approached that James and I have been cited as validating the image. We have not nor ever have stated the image is Abraham Lincoln.
"The obvious hint is that he does not look like Lincoln. But other things jump out such as the clothing not being right for the claimed time period and that, depending on what date you put it at, photography either did not exist or was not available on the frontier.
"I think the fact I an answering your query shows the misuse of the Internet and how quickly misinformation spreads."
Oh please give me a break. Why are you so jealous?
for those people who say the photo is not Abe Lincoln fine! everyone is entitled to an opinion. But to say it is not him without researching the photo in person is just being hateful and jealous.Have you even seen the photo in person? Can you answer the fact that the person in the photo has all the characteristics of abe lincoln including his diformed jaw, lip, mole etc.This is a blog and the only misinformation being spread is yours. As for the clothing, I am pretty sure you still wear 1980's clothes and if someone took a picture of you they would think it was taken 30 years ago.Get a life.I believe it is Abe Lincoln and nothing you say will change my mind. ROCK ON ABE!
They don't want to admit that if the photo is real(which in my opinion it is.) It's probably worth millions!I also admire Dr.Jerome Corsi and love his books, (Which also are best sellers), and if he says the photo is of a young Abe Lincoln than I believe,I believe!The guy who discovered the photo should get some kind of medal and a date with a supermodel.Its funny how people who weren't even around 170 years ago when the photo was taken can be so insistant about the clothes and photo technology? Where is that *&^%$% President Obama when you need him. To mediate as he usually does, I will buy the beer I already have the nuts.
1)Abe Lincoln was once young. Thanks Ivan for reminding us that Abe was young at one time.
2)Jealousy needs no facts.
I see a young Abe in the photos and to anyone that doesn't that's ok - move on. Stop trying to use smoking mirrors to hide the fact that the details of the facial features are exact.
you have to be open minded and educated. Everyone can see it looks exactly like Abraham Lincoln when he was young. He is dressed like a young man and he even has the same pose as in all his other photos.Wake up people and smell the roses, neatorama is showing you a historic picture!
Bravo also to you Mr.Ivan Cruz for finding it.
p.s. I'm single (I look like a young christy brinkly) are you available?
Thanks to Neatorama and the owner Ivan Cruz.
Rock on Abe Lincoln! 4-ever!
!